2016/4/8: Some adjustments to the Tier List. People are really twisting my arm!!! Also some additions to other sections, thanks to DeathByDribbling's comment.

2016/4/5: Added further information regarding where and who to fight. Includes sneak attacks from the sides/back, as well as fighting on multiple fronts (thanks to RockerBaby on the main SMITE forums). Other minor revisions.

2016/3/31: Minor revisions and additions, including a list in the Team Composition section of gods with synergistic abilities.

2016/03/30: Completed the rest of the sections!

2016/03/29: Published (unfinished) guide. Completed Intro, Definitions, Minions, Overview, and Team Composition sections. Rather than release only when fully completed, going to continue publishing as I complete the remaining chapters. Comments/feedback appreciated!

Main thanks to Bullfrog323 and boogiebass for their knowledge and feedback on the Arena mode. Also thanks to everyone else who's provided feedback!

Hello everyone! My name is Branmuffin17 (PC IGN: Muffinman17, PS4 IGN: Branmuffin17), and I'm a SMITEFire moderator and casual SMITE player on PC and PS4.

Welcome to my general guide for SMITE's Arena mode, designed to apply on a high level to gameplay and tips, rather than focusing on individual gods or builds. It contains significant influence and content from the absent TormentedTurnip, whose guide, Pffft, Minions: A General Guide to Arena, is outdated...which is why I've created this in the first place.

This guide targets the following players:

New players familiarizing themselves with gods or general gameplay mechanics of SMITE

Regulars looking to improve with or try new gods but dread risking the wrath of jerks in Conquest

Regulars looking for a refresher or to possibly learn a helpful tip or two

One of the most popular modes of SMITE, the Arena is a perfect place to learn the mechanics of a god you're unfamiliar with. This mode often has the shortest matches (<20 minutes), so is also a great pick if you don't have much time to play.

Arena provides some unique experiences that you won't get in other modes (especially Conquest), which also makes it a great mode for beginners:

No worrying about the jungle and getting ganked from around a corner

You don't have to ward or hope that others will ward

The base is extremely close, so you can go back to base anytime without worrying too much

As a final thought before we begin, understand that I'm not the best player (or anywhere close to it!). With time and experience, I have found the following to be helpful to me, and hope it may help others.

If you get something out of this, hopefully it will help increase your enjoyment of this awesome game. Keep in mind, though, that nothing beats experience. Keep an open mind to what you're doing correctly, as well as what you need to work on, and it's inevitable that you'll improve.

All gods (from those you own, plus the standard, free rotation) are available to choose.

You start with 1,500 gold at level 3. You gain 10 gold per second throughout the match.

Each side starts with 500 tickets. Killing an enemy god deducts 5 tickets. Killing an enemy minion (7 per wave, 1 wave every 20 seconds) deducts 1 ticket each. Friendly minions that reach the enemy portal deduct 1 ticket each. Once a team is down to 10 tickets, killing standard minions (Melee and Archers) will no longer deduct tickets. Killing Brute minions and escorting friendly minions through the enemy portal still deducts tickets.

An arena Minotaur spawns for every 10 team kills. The Minotaur pushes with the regular creep wave and has a large health pool and strong melee attacks. It will stop marching forward if an enemy god is nearby, targetting it with its attacks until the target is dead or they move away from it.

Teams respawn in waves. There is a single timer for an entire team constantly ticking away. Thus if a player dies just before the team timer goes off they will respawn almost immediately. The team timer increases in length the further ahead in score that team is, up to 60 seconds.

General Arena Details

Minion Spawn and Path:

Minions spawn from alternating sides of each base near the Phoenixes every 20 seconds, and head through the center of the map toward the enemy team's portals.

Buff Camps:

Each buff camp spawns a single special minion at the start of the game (time 0). These minions are inactive until they are attacked. When they are killed, they have a 240 second (4 minute) respawn time. The buffs last for 2 minutes.

Typically, mages will get the Mana and/or Damage buffs. ADCs (hunters or Freya) will usually get the Basic Attack buff, but if no ADCs are present, this will go to an assassin or basic-attacking warrior (like Ravana).

Respawn Timers:

Teams respawn in waves. There is a single timer for an entire team constantly ticking. If a player dies just before the timer ends, they will respawn almost immediately. A team's timer increases in length (up to 60 seconds) the further ahead in tickets they are.

10 or Less Tickets:

Once a team has 10 or less tickets, killing standard minion waves no longer deducts tickets against that team. Killing large minions and escorting friendly minions through the enemy portal still deducts tickets. Barring god kills, only 1 ticket is deducted every 20 seconds.

As such, DO NOT TURTLE (play fully defensive) if your team is ahead. You will lose tickets at the normal rate (until you reach 10), while the enemy team barely loses any. Instead, you should be pressuring the enemy team as a group. You can either force them to back off so you can push the minion wave, or try to get just 2 god kills to finish the match.

Team Composition & Build Effectiveness

Team Composition & Build Effectiveness

It is extremely important to consider the effects of a team's composition...yours and the enemies'. Here are some things to consider.

God Considerations

Magical/Physical Balance: Since you can choose your gods, there is no excuse to have an imbalanced team. Having 4 or more magical or physical gods on one team makes it extremely easy for the other team to counter build with protections. (This isn't to say that a 5-guardian team can't be fun, of course!)

Class/Role Balance: Each class has something that excels better than other classes...guardians have a lot of CC and can take a lot of damage, mages have a lot of burst, hunters have immense late-game damage, etc. Given that, class diversity can (but not always) make things easier for your team to handle a variety of situations.

Burst vs. Sustained Damage: Another aspect of balance, this has to do with how quickly gods deal damage. Burst damage is great for finishing off an injured enemy, but if it's applied to an enemy at full health, it may just allow them to retreat and heal. Sustained damage, though not as immediate, can provide constant health drain, getting enemies to the point where burst damage can complete the job. It's best if you have some of each in your team.

Ability Synergies: If you're into strategizing even before the game starts, you might want to consider which gods have abilities that work well in combination (usually ults associated with pulls, traps, and large AOEs. Check out my spoiler at the bottom of this section for a list of gods with these abilities.

Arena Isn't Balanced: The developers focus on balancing the game for competitive Conquest. Essentially, this turns some average Conquest gods (e.g. Odin, Ares, Xing Tian) into huge threats, while making other top-tier gods (e.g. Athena) a bit less effective. You can take a look at my Tier List section for further information and ideas, if you want to take advantage of this fact.

Ability Considerations

Crowd Control: In a teamfight situation, CC can be a game-changer. Having gods that have hard CC (e.g. freezes) or zoning capabilities (e.g. Odin's Ring of Spears) can allow your team to control the field and single out vulnerable enemies. It can also be used defensively to allow teammates to escape. Soft CC (e.g. slows) is also effective against retreating/chasing enemies.

CC Immunity: Somewhat counter to general CC, having an ability that allows you to cancel anticipated CC (such as Ares' No Escape provides a tremendous advantage, especially with the long CD of relics like Purification. Chaac, Ne Zha, Nu Wa and Rama, and Vamana have ults that are often used offensively, but these can be triggered defensively to get out of otherwise deadly CC. Even better, gods like Chang'e and Ravana have regular abilities with lower CD that provide them the same safety.

Escapes: Especially for squishy gods, having an escape (e.g. jumps/teleports) is a huge advantage, though it's also important to know WHEN to use it, and to recognize deadly situations and extract yourself before you hit the event horizon.

Minion Wave-Clear: As discussed previously, it's important to be able to quickly and efficiently clear the minion wave. Have at least 1 god on the team that can do so, and that knows it's one of their main responsibilities, so that you don't fall behind or get pushed back too easily.

Build & Item Considerations

Unnecessary Stats: Examples include HP5 (healing sustain), lifesteal and mana pools (in some situations). With the base so close, many aspects of sustain are rendered unnecessary. HP5/health regen from items like Stone of Gaia, and even Mail of Renewal are almost useless. Lifesteal is only really important for 1v1 boxing gods with high damage output (e.g. crit-built hunters) to help keep them alive. Some gods can still eat up mana, but mana regen is almost a completely useless stat. Don't EVER get Meditation!

Cost Effectiveness: In Conquest, build efficiencies with regard to build order and power spikes are important. In Arena, you also really have to consider the cost of items in a full build, because matches are so short. It's almost absurd to even consider buying Spear of Desolation, and even crit items can be too costly in some cases. Think early about how you plan to build.

Stacking Items: It can be really frustrating if you've got a stacking item (e.g. Transcendence) and you've got another teammate screaming at you because THEY need to stack too. Just be careful, so you're not all fighting for the same shared minion wave and getting upset.

Ability Synergies

The following is a simple list of gods whose abilities (usually Ultimates) work well when combined with teammates' abilities, or otherwise help others secure kills. Some of these are traps, some pull or otherwise gather gods into one area, and others are simply wide AOE damaging abilities. Most considered are ones that are able to affect multiple gods at once when in a teamfight, so you won't find mention of Fenrir's Ragnarok in here, even though it can secure a kill. Hun Batz's Fear No Evil also isn't included, because it disperses enemies in the area.

Gameplay Stages

Standard Start

Exit base to the left, and go toward the first jungle camp (Mana Buff). *note* I suggest watching across the arena until the camps spawn, just in case the enemy wants to try to sneak in and disrupt your process.

Clear the first camp.Mana Buff will usually be taken by a mage; usually one with the best wave-clear. (Sometimes they will then head to the middle of the arena to clear the first minion wave...but they really should continue on to help clear the rest of the camps.)

Clear the second camp.Damage Buff will usually be taken by any god that has strong early-game damage potential.

Clear the third camp.Basic Attack Buff will usually be taken by an ADC. If no ADC, it is taken by any other god that uses basic attacks often.

Head to the middle of the arena.

Advanced Start

Here is an advanced starting process, made easier if you're playing in a pre-made team who already understands. In essence, clear the camps in the reverse order.

This provides the following benefits:

The Mana Buff, which has perhaps the biggest effect in the early game, is picked up last, which means you get slightly more uptime while in the middle of the Arena.

You finish close to your base, making it quicker for teammates to run back to base to buy full items if necessary.

If you clear more slowly than the enemy team, and the enemy team tries for a quick minion push (or a quick god kill), you're in a better position to defend your portal and yourself.

Advanced Clearing

There is one further technique you can employ in either starting process for faster clearing. Since there is so little time from the start of the match to the spawning of the jungle camps, easiest to execute when in a pre-made group.

One person attacks the first target camp and draws the minion toward the middle camp.

Another person attacks the middle camp, and draws them toward the first camp. *note* Both have to stay within range so as not to lose aggro on their respective minions.

Once the two minions are close, any AOE damaging abilities can be used to hit both minions at the same time.

Early Game

The best strategy to help yourself at this point is usually to level up and gain gold by staying near and/or helping to clear the minion waves.

The best strategy to prevent the enemy from doing the same is to poke with any long range attacks and force them to go back to base early.

Consider your god's strengths and weaknesses. Don't jump into the middle of the enemy team if you're a squishy assassin. Consider focusing an aggressive squishy god if you're a tank with good CC abilities.

Go back to base to heal up (better than giving the enemy 5 free tickets with your death) or when you have enough gold to buy full items.

Mid-Game

As you and the enemy level up, differences in builds become more apparent. Tanks build protections and can soak up more damage, making them less appealing targets. Damage dealers will usually inflict - and TAKE - more damage.

The main things you should focus on are:

Teamwork: In most cases, the team that sticks together and focuses on the same targets, synchronizes ults, etc., will be victorious. This does not necessarily include powerful 1 v 1 gods (like Loki) that can spot a lone enemy.

Map Awareness: Even with the small arena map, don't forget to check the mini map often. It can help you watch the jungle camp respawn timers, spot separated enemies, warn you of enemy minions nearing your portal, etc.

Jungle Camp Respawns: This goes along with Map Awareness above, but deserves special mention. The buffs, throughout the game, give a significant advantage, especially with regard to the Damage and Basic Attack buffs. If you're going for a buff, make sure you're aware of enemy locations, and don't leave your team if they're initiating a team fight or getting pushed back. You can also ping the map to remind your team and possibly get support. Also, look for opportune moments to steal buffs close to the enemy base (e.g. Basic Attack buff on the left side).

Juggernauts: Juggernauts are special minions that have multiple times the health of standard minions. They are also worth 15 tickets if they reach a portal. Within reason, you want to escort your Juggernaut to the enemy portal. Whenever an enemy Juggernaut spawns, you want to make sure you focus it down. This needs to be your priority over chasing down a retreating enemy. More in the specific section on Juggernaut Strategies below!

Late-Game

As the ticket counter gets close to zero, you can easily tell if one team has the upper hand. At this point, every god kill becomes more critical.

If You're Ahead:

Focus on pushing the minion wave. Stay together as a team and focus (even call out) targets to secure kills quickly.

If You're Behind:

You may need to play defensively. Your priorities should be clearing the minion wave and not dying. You may need to consider turtling to get your team on more even footing (at 10 tickets or less). This, however, requires ALL of your team to play safe and not die. Spam "Retreat!" (VRR) or "Be Careful!" (VCC) if necessary to remind your teammates.

Once you're on more even footing (both with 10 or less tickets), it's pretty much a coin toss...try to synchronize with your team to get 2 quick kills to end the game.

Gameplay Tips

Initiating A Teamfight

So your team has cleared the camps, and both sides are pretty much picking their noses in the middle of the arena, throwing an occasional booger nuke at the minion waves. Pretty sure you don't want to do that for the next 20+ minutes, so let's talk about initiating a fight. How should this be done properly?

Tanky: If you're going to initiate, make sure you can take a little heat. The best initiators are often guardians or warriors, as they're inherently tanky.

Appropriate CC Abilities (Blink optional): Just having a strong CC ability isn't enough to initiate effectively. Abilities such as Freya's Banish may prevent the enemy from retreating, but also prevents your team from damaging them. The best initiators have abilities that help them to target and/or lock down specific enemies, such as stuns, knock-ups, roots, etc. This includes freezes like Ymir's Frost Breath, Odin's Lunge / Ring of Spears, Ares' No Escape, etc. The relic Blink is an extremely helpful initiation tool for select gods.

Timing & Support: If you're Ymir, you're probably not going to be very effective if you blink way ahead of your team to use your Frost Breath. You may find that simple initiation (a.k.a. run toward the enemy target) may allow you to keep your team close, and aggressive players may take your challenge without thinking things through. Teammate and enemy locations are also key...don't initiate if 2 of your teammates have gone back to base, but take advantage if some of the enemy team has done just that.

Where Should You Fight?

*Note* This section has heavy influence and info from Turnip's guide, as he brings up some great points.

Fighting In The Center

The center of the arena is where minion waves usually meet, and is equally accessible to both teams. It's by far the most common battle location.

It's best to make sure the minion waves are always cleared, while you constantly apply a bit of pressure by locating yourself just north of center. With the enemy being closer to their base, it may encourage the enemy to make just a "quick trip back" to buy items or replenish health/mana. Watch for when the enemy team is weaker in numbers (e.g. 5 v 4 or 5 v 3), as this gives you an opportunity for an easy kill or two, as well as help push the minion wave toward the enemy portal.

When this happens, you have two basic options:

Offensive: Apply high pressure to the enemy team, and attempt to prevent them from clearing the minion wave. Best when the enemy team is down a couple of gods from a recent teamfight, and when their team lacks easy waveclear abilities. Try to attack any enemies that are emerging from their base, so it's tempting for them to step back and heal, buying you a couple of precious seconds. Since their attention will probably be on the minion wave, it can be a bit less dangerous for you. Just make sure you have enough health and mana. With 1/2 health or less, you inevitably become a flashing neon target for enemies, and if you're out of mana, the only pressure you can apply is your presence, which isn't enough.

Defensive:Retreat as a team so you don't lose any points you just gained during the push/teamfight. If there are any remaining enemy gods that have strong waveclear, it's probably best to back off, as the possibility of pushing the minion wave to the portal is low. Also, remember that the farther you are from your base, the longer it takes to replenish health or get reinforcements, and the quicker the enemy team can regroup. Pay special attention to your teammates, as they may or may not let you know if they're going back to base.

For all of the reasons stated above, try not to allow your team to get in the reverse situation. Any enemy minions passing the center should be priority targets. Although aggressive (reckless) enemies may be baited into attempting to secure a god kill nearer your base (possibly exposing them to the stationary turrets), the location will not allow your team to effectively push a minion wave in case you do win a teamfight.

Fighting On The Sides

Another fight location is on the sides near the jungle camps. These fights commonly occur when gods go after the buffs, especially solo. The other team may spot the enemy and commit to an attack based on numbers, 1 v 1 potential, etc. Make sure, if you do fight on the sides, that your team doesn't forget the minion waves. If you have strong waveclear, you can simultaneously push the minion wave and hopefully win a teamfight.

Fighting On Multiple Fronts

There will almost always be a threat of attack from the middle. However, depending on the match, you may find it beneficial to pressure and poke from the sides as well. Although this can be dangerous (you'll be more isolated if you're alone on the side), this can provide multiple opportunities:

If you can constantly harass a nuker from the side, they may be afraid enough to start throwing their AOE bombs in your direction, easing pressure and damage down the middle for your tanks and other teammates.

Sometimes an enemy will think they spot an easy kill, and split themselves off from the main body to chase you. At this point, it's probably best to retreat to the side, and if you are confident in your 1 v 1, challenge them when threat from another enemy is lessened. Even better, you might be able to pull 2 enemies, giving the rest of your team a possible 4 v 3 opportunity!

Who Should You Fight?

Now, all of the above is good to consider, but it's also important to recognize the best target in each situation, not only for the initiator, but for everyone. Let's discuss.

Sometimes it's the tank/initiator: Although the enemy Athena might be the closest to your team, she's not necessarily the best god to focus. However, in the early game, most guardians/warriors will have very limited protection. Most choose mobility first, as items like Shoes of Focus and Ninja Tabi can be bought in full. Even if they choose a protection item first, it's not going to be very high, and often will be of only one type (e.g. building toward Breastplate of Valor or Bulwark of Hope). This means they are still vulnerable. So watch if they extend themselves too much trying to initiate. They may expose themselves TOO much, providing your team with a safe kill when your whole team focuses.

Usually it's the squishy ones: Consider enemy gods' abilities and situations. The best targets are often those with low health/protections. Other good targets are those with limited escapes/mobility, or those that have just used their escape abilities and are still close enough. Even better if they're the highest damage-dealer on their team...if you can burst them down, that's a lot of damage you're saving your team from taking.

But sometimes it's NOT the squishy one: Perhaps the player is naturally conservative. Maybe they're scared because they ran into YOU and got destroyed. Depending on your god and their abilities, you can mess with their head by seeming to target them, keeping them way back and preventing them from effectively participating in teamfights. Although they are not good targets in this case (harder to get to them as they're playing defensively), it makes the rest of their team more vulnerable. Try disappearing a lot if you're Loki, or threatening invasion from the side, but keep in mind that may also keep you further from your own team.

Sneak Attacks: With action going on all over the place, but with eyes mostly forward, sometimes you'll find that the enemy team's awareness is lacking. Certain gods have abilities that can allow them to get to the side, or even behind the enemy lines easily. If you're lucky, you might score a kill, but even if not, you hopefully can do enough damage to take at least one enemy out of an upcoming teamfight. However, it's also important to have the ability to get OUT, since the entire enemy team might turn around and target you while you're by your lonesome. As such, mobility is a must. If you can accomplish this and get in the enemy's head, it may put them on the defensive, always looking behind them, and allowing you to put more pressure on them.

Reverse Psychology (make sure it's not you): Of course, all of this works in reverse.

If you're a squishy god, make sure you're aware of your position in relation to your team. Don't isolate yourself too much unless you are confident in your mobility and escape abilities.

It's usually safest for squishy gods to stay somewhat grouped and close to tanks (but not bunched, as that allows the enemy team to focus multiple targets more easily).

Be aware of the enemies' initiation capabilities. You may feel safe sitting a bit behind your tanks, but if that Tyr's Blink is up, you may suddenly find yourself rapidly approaching the enemy team, and not of your own volition.

When Should You Fight?

Yet another aspect of awareness that comes with experience is recognizing an advantage and spotting potentially dangerous situations.

Numbers Advantage or Equal Footing Teamfight: This one is fairly obvious. If all 5 gods on both teams are present and healthy, well, we already went over nose-picking. Someone's going to initiate, and a fight's going to happen. That's okay. But if you can make one of the enemy team back off from damage or threat, or the enemy initiator extends too far, recognize this and commit. You have an even stronger advantage the closer you are to the enemy base when pushing minions or the Juggernaut, as they'll have to focus some of their attention on the wave.

1 v 1: Recognizing advantage definitely takes experience. You'll generally know if you have a good chance of beating the enemy one on one. Some obvious gods with this general advantage include many assassins, as well as late-game hunters. Don't try this as a tank.

Retreating: Understand that there is nothing holding you to committing to a fight. You have no real objectives to lose, as long as the minion waves and Juggernaut are covered. If you can recognize that your team is in a bad spot, sound the retreat and back off to heal up and regroup. It's better than losing multiple tickets. Remember to use any zoning tools to help your team, if you have them, rather than leaving them in the dust.

Juggernaut Strategies

It should be obvious and essential that anytime a Juggernaut spawns, the opposing team makes it a priority target. If you notice that it has spawned, make sure your entire team is aware...use chat, ping the minimap, whatever you need to do.

Before we get into further discussion, here are some basic movement mechanics about the Juggernaut:

With no gods around, the Juggernaut will walk toward the enemy portal. Minions will not slow it down. It also doesn't attack.

If one or more enemy gods are close, the Juggernaut will stop.

HOWEVER, if even ONE friendly god is close to the Juggernaut, it will keep walking, regardless of the number of enemy gods.

The only way to stop the Juggernaut in this case is to body-block it.

This creates some interesting situations and can reward an aggressive team. Let's go over all 4 situations with general suggestions.

If you recognize an opportunity to push the Juggernaut, there are multiple ways in which you can attempt to get the Juggernaut to the enemy's portal. The best situation is obviously if you greatly outnumber the enemy (e.g. recent teamfight just got 2+ of their team killed, and they're limping back to base). Support the Juggernaut and put high pressure on the enemy with your superior numbers. Another obvious situation would be to just go all out, possibly 5 on 5, and use every ability at your team's disposal (e.g. zoning) in hopes of success.

However, there are also some distractions and feints you can make that might be just enough to complete your mission.

Enforce a 5 v 5 fight far away from their portal. If they don't notice the Juggernaut is out, it may be too late by the time the fight is over.

Have the tankiest player follow the Juggernaut, while the other members burst enemies down or bait them into going after an easy, isolated target. The goal here is to keep as many enemies away from your tank so he can survive long enough to push it through.

In essence, even if one or two teammates die but the Juggernaut makes it in, you've come out with a net positive result, so sacrificing a tank is worth it. Just make sure it counts.

Anytime the Juggernaut is moving, you should focus your attacks on it.

If the Juggernaut stops (teammate close, enemy not), you can switch targets if necessary to push the enemy back, but at least one teammate (hopefully with high DPS) needs to stay near and continue attacking it.

Damaging abilities should be prioritized for the Juggernaut. You need to take it down as quickly as possible.

Save CC abilities for when (if) the Juggernaut enters the critical zone (right in front of the portal). At this point, the enemy team will likely taste blood and go all-in. You'll need the CC to hold them off at that point.

Remember, if the Juggernaut is going to reach your portal, sometimes, sacrifices can be glorious. 5 or 10 tickets (1 or 2 god deaths) is better than 15.

In a case where the enemy team isn't pushing, you should only need one god to stay close and finish the Juggernaut, though more will do it quicker.

Any other teammates not attacking are free to counter whatever the enemy team might be doing.

Random Tips

Use Walls & Pillars

There are 8 pillars in the center areas of the arena, and 3 sets of walls on each side. They block all basic attacks and abilities that don't go through walls, so should be used strategically. This can help you minimize damage, and can also help you gain advantageous positioning.

Some Abilities Go Through Walls

Don't forget that some abilities can go through walls. They can be as simple as a nuke (e.g. Agni's Rain Fire), but also include some leaps/escapes, such as Bastet's Pounce and Odin's Lunge. Only leaps with ground targeting can pass through walls, though, so Neith's Back Flip is out.

You can even jump over your base's wall if you're being chased!

Minions Gain Some Buffs

Minions accept heals and speed boosts. For example, Hel's Repulse / Inspire provides both, so you can use this to help push a minion wave.

However, if you're NOT currently pushing the minion wave, it's best NOT to heal them or taunt them away from your minions. When you kill the enemy wave, your minions move on, and are easy, non-contested kills when you're not accompanying them. Remember, minions killed by other minions deduct no tickets, and enemies not close to the minion wave don't get the XP/gold.

Use Minions Defensively

Minions can be used to block some forms of damage. Especially in the early game, stand behind them to prevent getting hit by enemy basic attacks.

If you're on the sides, understand that the jungle camp minions attack upon taking damage, not proximity. If you're being chased and the minions are up, you can run through them, preventing some attacks while also siccing them on your enemy for a minor distraction.

In this section, I will give some emphasis on specific items I feel are very functional in the Arena mode, and then provide some example builds. This is not an exhaustive list, and will NOT focus on items such as critical damage.

Keep in mind, Arena is a close-in teamfight mode. The fountain is nearby, so stats like HP5 and MP5 aren't quite as helpful as in other modes. On the other hand, items such as those that have AURA effects, or Relic Dagger for those looking to use Blink Rune often, or stats like CDR, have increased potential in this mode.

Always look to the strengths of your particular god to get the most out of them.

Key Magical Items

Key Magical Offense Items

These items are focused on pure offense.

Bancroft's Talon (Lifesteal): The all-around best offensive lifesteal item for this mode. High power and lifesteal for a good price, especially as you get more damaged.

Chronos' Pendant (High Ability Use): This item has the highest CDR of any magical item by far. Key item for mages looking to spam their abilities.

Rod of Tahuti (High Power): In a teamfight, you should be able to put damage on enemy gods with < 50% health. You'll see a significant power spike in those situations. Only build late-game.

Soul Reaver (Extra Burst / Anti-Tank): A pure offense item, it provides additional damage on every ability hit to one target per ability use. Has increasing damage against higher-health enemies.

Spear of Desolation (Jack-Of-All-Magical-Items): power, CDR, and penetration. The passive should see lots of procs, since it activates on kills AND assists.

Spear of the Magus (Protection Reduction): This is an AMAZING item for gods that have ticking or DoT abilities. The protection reduction it applies helps ALL magical teammates deal more damage to your target. Extremely useful for gods such as Freya and Anubis, and can see good effect with Poseidon, Baron Samedi, and Ah Puch, to name a few.

Key Magical Bruiser / Utility Items

Mages looking for some utility / protections, or aggressive Guardians can utilize some of these items that provide both offense AND defense or unique utility.

Ethereal Staff (Damage & Survival): Good power and a passive that provides some burst combine with health and CC reduction to provide a unique set of stats.

Gem of Isolation (Added CC): Good power, health, and some CC reduction are bonuses to the specific reason you get this item; it gives all of your damaging abilities a slowing effect on the enemy. Very useful to control enemy movement and help secure kills or create space to retreat.

Pythagorem's Piece (Lifesteal / Power AURA): This is definitely an offensively-focused item, but with a teamfight utility focus. Best if your team is good at sticking together with good teamwork.

Soul Gem (Lifesteal / Healing Utility): a large combination of stats combine with a passive that situationally heals nearby teammates.

Stone of Binding (Early Aggression): This is a great early bridge item for aggressive Guardians with ANY CC in their kits (also great for Ah Puch!). If your team is good at sticking together, they can benefit from a very strong early 15 penetration boost.

Void Stone (Protection Reduction AURA): Great for Guardians that can deal a decent amount of damage. The protection reduction it applies helps ALL magical teammates deal more damage to enemies near you. Key item for Ares.

Key Physical Items

Key Physical Offense Items

These items are focused on pure offense and are typically used most for pure damage dealers.

Bloodforge (Survival After Kill): High power and some lifesteal are great, but you'll get this (late game, typically, due to the price) for the passive health shield you gain upon getting a kill. In a teamfight mode, diving to get a kill likely means other enemies will be on you quickly, so the added health can keep you alive.

Brawler's Beat Stick (Anti-Heal): Has solid anti-heal effect when facing lots of enemy healers. You'll find more function if you've got AOE abilities that can affect multiple gods at once. The high power and good flat pen enhance all damage you deal.

Hydra's Lament (Attack Canceling): The bonus damage you get from hitting basic attacks immediately after ability use provide a great source of burst. This is a key item for gods such as Loki and Awilix.

Jotunn's Wrath (CDR): This is the pure ability user's key item for ability spamming. Has the highest CDR of all physical items, and also provides good power and flat pen.

Qin's Sais (Basic Attack DPS): Very strong basic attack DPS boost for Hunters and Assassins that rely on basics for their main damage output. Considerably better effect for gods with quick attack progressions (such as Arachne and Kali), and can even be considered for bruiser Warriors with said quick attack progressions (such as Amaterasu and Erlang Shen).

The Crusher (Hybrid Damage): Power and pen similar to Brawler's combines with attack speed to benefit gods that rely at least partially on basic attacks. The passive provides bonus damage for abilities.

Transcendence (High Power / Stacking): A controversial item for short modes like Arena, you may struggle if you have to fight for minion stacks. That said, the high power it provides at full stacks is surpassed by no other item, and the added CDR is great for ability use. Huge mana means you never have to worry about running out. Strongly consider pairing with Jotunn's Wrath or Soul Eater.

Key Physical Bruiser / Utility Items

Tanky Mages or aggressive Guardians can utilize some of these items that provide both offense AND defense.

Ancile (Anti-Magical / Silence): Helpful against magical enemies, and provides both power and CDR for offense. At low health, a local silence can give you time to escape or finish off an enemy.

Frostbound Hammer (Basic Attack CC): Not the strongest item overall, but the slow that is applied on basic attacks can help lock down enemies to allow your teammates to help secure kills.

Masamune (Teamfight Hybrid Mobility): Power and increased move speed are constant stats. In a teamfight with multiple close enemies, provides increasing balanced protections to help with survival.

Stone Cutting Sword (Anti-Physical / Mobility): Specifically for basic attackers, the stacking protections can be very helpful against a team with higher physical threat. Those protections are leeched from the enemy, meaning they lose protections, allowing you to deal more damage, especially with the high power this item provides. Added movespeed round out the stats.

Void Shield (Anti-Physical / Protection Reduction AURA): This item is a perfect bruiser item, providing physical protection and some power. The protection reduction aura is the reason you pick this up though, as it helps ALL physical teammates deal more damage to nearby enemies.

Key Universal Defense / Counter Items

Key Universal Defense / Counter Items

These items are typically most helpful for Guardians committing to being a full tank, and for specifically countering enemy gods.

Breastplate of Valor (Anti-Physical / High CDR): Helpful against physical damage, and provides the highest base CDR of all protection items. A healthy mana pool allows you to spam abilities without running out too quickly.

Gauntlet of Thebes (High Balanced Protections / AURA): Best built in Arena AFTER getting some base protections, since it requires assist stacking to provide full protections. Great overall survival item, and provides a small aura of protections to nearby teammates once evolved.

Genji's Guard (Anti-Magical / High CDR): Helpful against magical damage, and provides good base CDR and a passive that gives you situationally higher CDR for abilities currently on CD. Has such high MP5 that it actually can be helpful in Arena.

Heartward Amulet (Anti-Magical AURA): Helpful against magical damage, and provides magical protection to nearby teammates. Best to pick up when there are higher magical threats than physical.

Hide of the Nemean Lion (Counter - Anti-Crit Basic Attack): Enemies that attack you with basics have some damage reflected back on them. Best when facing critical damage builds, and great if you can get the enemy to HAVE to focus you (e.g. Athena's Confound).

Lono's Mask (High Mitigation): This item severely nerfs your damage output, but equally helps absorb incoming damage. This is suitable if you've committed to being a non-traditional full tank. Limited to Assassins, Hunters, and Mages.

Mantle of Discord (Balanced Protections + CDR): High balanced protections and CDR provide great stats for ability-reliant tanks (or the mage that needs a single protection item). The passive is great for tanks that dive deep into a teamfight, as the sistuational stun can really disrupt the enemy's flow.

Midgardian Mail (Counter - Anti-Basic Attack): Good against physical damage, and particularly against basic attacks. Enemies attacking you find their attack speed and movement are slowed.

Oni Hunter's Garb (Anti-Magical / Teamfight Mitigation): Provides up to 9% damage mitigation when in a fight with multiple nearby enemies. Is focused more on magical protection as well, and provides some CC reduction, so is a strong overall tank item.

Pestilence (Counter - Anti-Heal AURA): Great against magical damage, and specifically useful against enemy healing of all types.

Sovereignty (Anti-Physical AURA): Helpful against physical damage, and provides physical protection to nearby teammates. Best to pick up when there are higher physical threats than magical.

Spirit Robe (Anti-CC / Damage Mitigation): Decent balanced protections and CDR round out the stats for this item, which is most useful against lots of enemy CC. When you're hit with hard CC, mitigates a decent portion of incoming damage for a short time, to help you survive burst damage.

Witchblade (Counter - Anti-Basic Attack AURA): Among other stats, provides an aura that slows the basic attacks of all nearby enemies.

This is a pure tank build, focusing on protections, health, CDR, and some late basic attack counter items. In Arena, Athena definitely wants CDR, so she can use her Confound as much as possible; it's an incredibly powerful CC ability that can help set up and secure kills for your team, as well as peel enemies off retreating teammates. Since she'll be directing damage at herself every time she uses it, forcing enemies to slow down with Midgardian Mail is also very helpful.

In all honesty, almost all AURA items are extremely useful to him, and I feel they're strong overall in this mode. The 2 key items in this build are Void Stone (for the protection reduction) and Relic Dagger for more Blink Rune-initiated ults.

Consider Pestilence if facing lots of enemy healing. If you can afford it late-game, consider replacing your Shoes with Witchblade.

***bha can deal a surprising amount of damage for a tanky god, so Void Stone is picked up for that purpose. The rest of the build combines protections and lots of early CDR to spam those CC abilities to help set up kills for your teammates. The last 2 items are situational or per your preference.

Zeus is a prototypical glass cannon mage, built best for high damage. In Arena, he wants to be able to use his abilities a lot, so by 3rd item he has 30% CDR. You can get the remaining 10% from the blue mana buff or a Potion of Magical Might.

Perhaps a somewhat funky build, it concentrates on early attack speed, with the help of the cheap starter Hunter's Blessing, to set up and support the great damage she gets from Qin's Sais. However, she has to be up close to deal said damage, so protections and health from Urchin followed by Mantle greatly increase her survivability.

The 6th slot is situational, and you can consider alternate options like Hastened Katana if you want to stick to your targets when Web is on CD, or Magi's Cloak if you're getting interrupted a lot by CC. Stone Cutting Sword is a strong item when facing more physical gods.

As opposed to the basic attack-focused build above, this one looks to gain control via Cocoon, with burst damage from Venomous Bite. CDR, power, and pen become the key stats.

Since you won't be sticking around as long to attack an individual enemy, you can take more risk by not getting any protections. The healing you'll get from Venomous Bite will sustain you, and your ult will be up more often as an escape, if needed.

This build looks to maximize CDR ASAP for lots of ults (and Bird Bombs!). Allows him to also use Gungnir's Might, which easily applies a slow to enemies hit. Relic Dagger is picked up as early as possible to pair with a 1st relic choice of Blink Rune, to help you set up ults as optimally as possible.

Jotunn's Wrath is probably a situational item, but if you can get away with diving into a fight, it'll help your ability use. That ult is also extremely helpful in a teamfight as a disruption tactic. Void Shield pairs well with the protection reduction from Flurry, and Ancile is great since you'll be in close to enemies.

There are obvious synergies between some gods that increases their effectiveness, but I can't cover each variation, and there are no guarantees on what gods your teammates choose (or how well they play). As such, all gods are considered on their own merit only.

Abilities with mobility/escapes, CC, AOE, and zoning capabilities push gods toward S-Tier. Gods with a lack of these push them toward B-Tier. Healing and sustain in Arena is slightly less important than in other modes, where you either can't go back to base (Assault) or going back to base and returning is a time-consuming process (Conquest/Siege).

One other thing...the ability to secure a kill by itself isn't enough. Thanatos and Loki are great at getting kills...but having the capability of getting out alive is also important. You're not really doing much for your team if you're going 10/10/15.

Assassins

Most assassins have single target burst-focus and low teamfight potential, but almost all have great mobility. This sort of balances things out. Players using these gods need to use their skills effectively and recognize situations to do well.

Overpowered (S-Tier):

Bastet: High and easy to confirm damage output, AOE bleed, and extremely useful initiation AND escape rolled into one. Her one very major weakness is CC, and she can be shut down if she's not careful about when she attacks.

Fenrir: Great mobility, and good single-target damage even when built tanky. His ult can easily secure a kill while keeping him relatively safe. Often forces enemies to pick up Purification Beads, and CC immunity abilities don't help if you're caught.

Kali: Although she has single-target focus, she can jump from target to target with her buffed health regen via her passive, and stay in a fight a long time when her ult is up. Deadly when played well, and one of the best candidates to give you a penta-kill.

Pele: She doesn't have mana issues because one of her abilities doesn't use any, and also provides great temporary mobility. She's got good burst in combos, and an ult that deals a lot of damage. Finally, she's got a nice, large AOE knockup to get her out of sticky situations or help set up kills. Can be played poorly, but she's got a lot of strengths in her kit, even when played with some protections.

Set: Assumed position on the tier list, as he is a new release and I haven't confirmed. However, his ability damage has a lot of potential, and the fact he can teleport good distances very quickly allows him to escape dangerous situations or secure kills relatively easily.

Thor: Extremely high mobility with a semi-global ult that helps secure kills, and his Tectonic Rift is a huge stun and zoning tool. Can be built a bit tanky and still deal decent damage.

Balanced (A-Tier):

Arachne: Strong mid to late-game presence. Has a long duration slow w/ annoying little spider minions which also gives her a move speed buff for chase potential, a possible stun, and a great ult for escape or kill-securing.

Awilix: Great mobility and a nice pull, but mostly single target and difficult to play well.

Bakasura: Recent CD decrease to his ult emphasizes his ult-bot presence. Good mobility/escape, high single-target damage, and a buffed/revised Hastened Katana (with similar nerf with Fatalis no longer available to hunters) give him a lot of viability. Still has to play it safe and pick his targets wisely, but can be very effective.

Camazotz: Good damage output, but doesn't quite have a true escape. Can be built tanky and still be effective, and his abilities trigger his healing, so can have some teamfight function.

Da Ji: She seems like she should have OP potential, but her ult can be difficult to hit consistently. Has good potential teamfight damage output via her One Thousand Cuts, but an escape that is slightly situational (hope you've got a nearby teammate!).

Loki: You know I love him. That said, he has almost zero teamfight potential, and his only true escape is his ult. Deadly when played well, but easy to play poorly. Getting 12 kills isn't so great if you're also dying 10 times.

Mercury: Great mobility but no leap to escape. High damage output, but can be difficult to play him well.

Ne Zha: Damage output is good, but he has no true escape. Ult can finish enemies, but you know exactly where he's going to land. Can definitely be played well, and can very easily secure kills.

Ratatoskr: Good mobility and decent damage output, but he's not much of a teamfighter outside of his large AOE ult, and his CC abilities are perhaps a bit less effective in these situations. His dash stops at the first god hit, decreasing his mobility. May be considered S-Tier depending on matchups.

Ravana: Solid damage output, especially early-game. Has a bit of everything to help in a teamfight, including a self-heal/root, a built-in Aegis Amulet + range attack, and a nice melee cone-attack. Can easily be played poorly, though.

Serqet: Has high single-target damage output, combined with amazing mobility. That said, she has almost no teamfight presence. S-Tier against weak enemies that allow themselves to get caught away from their teammates often. Try building her tanky.

Susano: Has a good early game overall, and deceptive mobility which allows him to secure kills on retreating enemies and get out alive. He'd be higher if he had higher damage output.

Thanatos: Great ult to secure kills, but no true teamfight presence, and no other escape besides his ult. Deadly in the right hands, but timing on his abilities is key to his effectiveness.

Underpowered (B-Tier):

Surprised? No underpowered Assassins, really? I believe Assassins are in a pretty balanced state right now, and they can all have good function in Arena. That said, you probably shouldn't have more than 1 on a team, and both team balance and skill will come into play.

Guardians

Guardians have great CC and are tanky, so can play the role of both initiator and main tank. However, they lack mobility, and they require good teammates to ensure their abilities are effective.

Overpowered (S-Tier):

Ares: High damage potential, effective teamfight defense aura, and an ult that forces the enemy team to pick up Purification Beads. This is his stomping ground.

Bacchus: Wino. Great AOE abilities combined with high damage, even when built tanky. That said, he's more suited to be a secondary tank than primary.

Cerberus: He's got a great teamfight ult similar to Ares. He otherwise has little in the way of hard CC (his spit needs to be fully charged and can be difficult to connect all 4), but his nice cone AOE slow and magical protection reduction is a great team support ability. Higher damage potential than many other Guardians.

Kumbhakarna: His CC is amazing, and his ult can help isolate an enemy. Decent damage output, even when built tanky. Underrated for teamfight modes.

Jormungandr: A global ult for chase or escape is extremely helpful, and he has some great AOE effects. High damage potential even when going tanky.

Balanced (A-Tier):

Artio: A series of nerfs has brought her down to Earth. She has a lot of utility in her kit, which can make her borderline S-Tier, but the lack of an ult means she has to make the rest of her abilities count that much more.

Athena: The mobility provided by her ult isn't that effective in Arena. Still has a great AOE pull, which, by itself, keeps her in A-Tier, perhaps borderline S. Sometimes, Athena IS needed.

Fafnir: He has a stun, a disarm, and some decent damage, especially in dragon form. The transformation resets his cooldowns, which means he can throw twice the abilities in a matter of seconds.

Ganesha: He has a lot of team-wide function (both offensive and defensive). Borderline S-Tier due to his extremely effective teamfight ult and ease with which he can apply his silence.

Khepri: He has a strong pull, strong stun, annoying moving AOE DoT, and a lifesaving ult. Unfortunately, he has extremely low damage, so requires teammate awareness to take advantage of his CC abilities.

Kuzenbo: He's got some great teamfight potential, especially with his damage reflect and Tyr-like push. His ult can really disrupt a teamfight.

Terra: Has multiple ways she can be effective in a teamfight, including some great AOE CC and a team-wide ult that gives some amazing benefits.

Xing Tian: His ult is great for Arena, but can be difficult to confirm a grab, even when combined with timely Blink Rune use. The rest of his kit is good, with some mobility and a knockup/root.

Ymir: Potentially high damage output and a great freeze, but lacks mobility and his wall is less effective in the wide-open Arena. Functions a bit better with some damage / bruiser items, rather than going full tank.

Underpowered (B-Tier):

Cabrakan: Good damage output and a bit of mobility, but he's less effective in the wide-open Arena. He's A-Tier in certain matchups.

Sobek: Great initiating pull (if he connects), but mediocre damage output and limited mobility. Almost never see a very effective Sobek in Arena, which is one of the reasons I consider him underpowered. If you can take advantage of his strong early game, he can work out well if your team works together.

Sylvanus: Horrible mobility and one of his abilities is practically useless in Arena other than a quick stun if it hits. Healing/sustain is less important. Please don't choose him, unless you're playing against me.

Hunters

Most hunters are late-game gods (reliant on items), and some rely on high-cost crit items for their DPS. Depending on how the match goes, they may or may not reach true relevance. That said, finding it difficult to put most hunters in B-Tier. Give me reasons!

Overpowered (S-Tier):

Neith: Nice escape while being able to keep your eyes forward. Abilities have great AOE, and her ult can secure kills.

Rama: Very functional multi-direction dodge and good damage output, with an ult that can secure kills. The ult also doubles as CC immunity to prevent pulls. Strong pick.

Xbalanque: The teamfight hunter. Multiple AOE abilities and his ult, when timed well, can allow you to get the jump on enemies.

Balanced (A-Tier):

Ah Muzen Cab: He doesn't really have an escape, and can be focused hard because of it, so spread out Hives to give him a broad range of enhanced mobility. His slow on Honey, which has a wide AOE, can help control movement and help him retreat or catch up, and those damned bees spread everywhere, which gives him some teamfight presence. Once he's online he's deadly, and can be considered borderline S-Tier.

Apollo: Good range of abilities with some mobility, while his ult doubles as an escape and a kill secure. Lacks a bit of damage.

Artemis: A candidate for B-Tier since she lacks mobility and escape, but her attack speed steroid and passive crit help her damage output. Tusky is perfect for teamfights.

Cernunnos: He has a lot of minor utility in his kit, and his damage output is solid. His ult is also nice, but isn't particularly damaging.

Chernobog: Strong, easy to apply burst combo in his 1-2 helps with safe poke, and built correctly, has strong burst potential when mixing in basics. His dash isn't a lifesaver unless he's very close to walls, and his ult can only delay the inevitable if he uses it as an escape tool.

Chiron: Doesn't really stand out on the battlefield. Decent mobility but lacks escape. Good damage output and a good escape that allows him to run through enemies and create further distance.

Cupid: A-Tier damage with S-Tier potential when using his massive AOE CC ult in combination with other gods' ults. His heals don't really do much.

Hou Yi: Has an escape and a massive AOE ult that works well in combination with some other gods' ults. That said, his Ricochet doesn't have a lot of easy opportunities to get 1, let alone 2 bounces to increase his damage output on his target, limiting his potential.

Hachiman: Great escape / kill secure ult makes him a solid hunter with all-around function and safe poke. Stronger late-game, like most other hunters.

Izanami: She has pretty good damage output when combining basic attacks and abilities, and a stealth escape is very helpful. Her damage isn't top-tier, though, and people continue to be confused as to how best to build her.

Jing Wei: Her kit is great in Arena. Her passive, Rapid Reincarnation, helps her get very quickly back into the fight. Explosive Bolts provide AOE damage w/ crit chance of up to 20%, so she could be extremely functional just building Deathbringer, bringing her version of a crit build into affordability.

Skadi: Has a good slow, her ult has a root, and her pet puppy can really increase her damage output, though he's susceptible to quickly being rendered nil in a teamfight. She lacks a true escape, but her damage potential makes up for it.

Ullr: Can be difficult to play well, and doesn't have a true ult, which are the main reasons he's not immediately S-Tier. Good mobility and can unleash multiple abilities quickly from range or melee.

Underpowered (B-Tier):

Anhur: Poor guy. Lacks an attack speed steroid, and his Shifting Sands is a bit lackluster in the wide open Arena. At least he has an escape.

Discordia: Easy to confirm AOE poke damage combined with some control provides incredible damage potential. Only a short range jump makes her somewhat vulnerable, so she should be played on the periphery of a teamfight, but that jump also allows her to get around dangerous obstacles.

Merlin: Long range poke and strong overall damage make him very powerful. Often is able to deal top damage.

Nox: Huge CC abilities, good damage output, and a type of escape by hiding in teammates' shadows. Can really lock down enemies for others to finish.

Zeus: Possible A-Tier due to his lack of escape. However, his damage potential in a teamfight is massive and easy to apply from distance, which pushes him into S-Tier.

Balanced (A-Tier):

Agni: Good damage potential and a nice dash that can be used as a form of escape. Other than comboing 2 abilities to create a stun, he lacks CC.

Anubis: His mobility/escape is B-Tier (read: none), but his damage output is S-Tier. Has enough CC to make him very effective in 1 v 1 and teamfights as long as he's not focused by the entire enemy team.

Ao Kuang: Similar to Loki, he can disappear for short periods, and his ult easily secures kills (and then gets him to safety). Doesn't have a lot of teamfight potential, but that ult gives him solid kill secure functionality.

Baron Samedi: Although he has no escape, he has great potential in the middle of a teamfight. Wrap It Up in particular is a powerful teamfight CC ability that can chain to multiple enemies, and his ult gives him some great control. As long as he positions himself well, he can not only deal good damage, but also provide CC, debuffs, and situational group healing.

Chang'e: Moderate damage, but her abilities have wide AOE, which work incredibly well with items like Gem of Isolation to help her control the field. Her stunning ult in a teamfight can be a game-changer. Although she lacks an escape, she's got a built-in Aegis Amulet!

Chronos: Has a variety of ways to attack, including an AOE-type ticking nuke and quick basic attacks when built that way. His ult can also save his life AND get him back into the action quickly.

Freya: She's MINE, but the Fatalis -> Ring nerf hurt her. She still has some amazing damage potential, especially with access to attack speed items overall, but the loss of mobility means she won't be able to box quite as effectively.

He Bo: Decent damage from afar, and high damage potential up close, but lacks a true escape, which makes getting close risky business.

Hera: The jury is out on her...from the looks of her kit, she'll be a decent mage but nothing standout, especially in a teamfight.

Isis: She outputs good damage, has a good long-range stun, and low cooldowns (her ult gives her an automatic 10% CDR VERY QUICKLY). Her ult can also be a huge healer in a teamfight, and doubles as a zoning tool.

Janus: His teleport can still work on some walls (e.g. the sides), and he can drop it on the floor for temporary relief from damage, but it's not fully an escape. Good damage output though.

Kukulkan: He's got an easy-peasy, fire-and-forget wave-clear and high damage output. With a lack of escape, best to play him on the perimeter.

Nu Wa: Lacks a bit of burst unless comboing on her minions, and her ult, though it can secure kills, is weak but does allow her to get out of some damage for a time.

Poseidon: Some might put him in S-Tier for his AOE abilities, and in particular, Release The Kraken!, but he lacks an escape, making him an easy target.

Ra: Although he lacks an escape or even a good dash, his waveclear and teamfight presence keeps him relevant.

Scylla: Another that might be A-Tier, but she's got a true escape, a strong root, and a crazy burst ult that can chain into multiple kills, though it's difficult to land. Extremely effective if her teammates can keep the enemy's attention.

Sol: With multiple targets in a teamfight, her passive and self-healing will help keep her in a fight and doing good damage. She also has a great - though delayed - Aegis Amulet-type ability.

Thoth: He's got some good damage at safe range, but it can be difficult to connect his shots. He also has an escape, though it has a long CD, so he needs to be careful.

Vulcan: Poor mobility and his turret is vulnerable, but he can still output a ton of damage, especially with his ult getting a nice speed-buff, allowing him to more easily hit his huge AOE on multiple targets.

Zhong Kui: Unique for a mage. Often built somewhat tanky, and has some great AOE abilities that slowly tick away enemies' health. Even though he doesn't really have burst potential, he is a great teamfighter. Lacks CC and an escape.

Underpowered (B-Tier):

Aphrodite: Aphro is a great partner, but her abilities are less effective in a full teamfight. Her healing can be nice, but is easily countered with anti-heal. She has some decent damage output, but she just isn't best-suited for Arena play. Can be very effective with the right teammates, though, and good timing on her Ult can save teammates.

Hades: He's got some really good burst and an effective ult if timed properly, but that ult is typically easy to escape. Really needs good team support to be effective, otherwise he can be caught and burst down.

Hel: Her healing can be helpful, but if she emphasizes her utility, she loses on long-distance damage. She has absolutely no escape. Common target for the enemy team, and so many anti-healing items can really cut into her support function.

Warriors

Warriors can work as main tanks or high-pressure bruisers. There's definitely a disparity of effectiveness in this class, though.

Overpowered (S-Tier):

Achilles: Right now, he seems to be performing very well in Arena. Built with mostly protections, he can still output a reasonable amount of damage. A built in execute in his ult that can chain multiple enemies is very nice, but the wind-up time makes it at least somewhat predictable and avoidable with escape abilities or Aegis Amulet. Recent nerfs push him down to more reasonable levels, with an expectation of more balanced results.

Cu Chulainn: He's very effective when built tanky, and has some great potential when controlling his Rage for the right opportunity. Even though he's seen multiple nerfs, he is still incredibly dangerous when played well.

Hercules: His best feature is taking damage and healing pretty much back up to full, making him an ever-present distraction. Has a pull and a push, and a damaging ult, though he lacks a bit of teamfight AOE presence.

Odin: The ult-spamming king of the Arena. His ult is OP in arena. The rest of his abilities fall off late game, but his new passive can give him a great power boost that can make him dangerous when the kills start coming.

Balanced (A-Tier):

Amaterasu: Amazing mobility...try getting Shield of Regrowth to further enhance it. Her potential comes from this mobility, and decent damage and chase ability. Her ult can do some good damage and the stun from the final hit can help secure kills.

Bellona: Great AOE and crippling abilities, with decent teamfight damage output, while still being tanky. Best. God. Ever.

Chaac: Pretty good early damage on his huge AOE axe throw, and has some types of CC (slow and silence) and a self-heal. Within quick games, his early-mid game shines.

Guan Yu: You can quickly get full stacks of Painless on minion waves, which helps get off some good heals to save teammates, or alternatively use damaging abilities with added effects. Somewhat low damage output (except for the ult, which doubles as mobility/chase), but has a lot of utility, so a good Guan player can adapt well to different situations. Has to be built correctly to be effective.

Horus: Assumed position in the tier list for now, since he is a new release. A good set of group support functions, along with some decent CC give him a lot of potential, but his ult's effectiveness in this mode is questionable.

King Arthur: Has a lot of utility in his kit, but lacks burst and doesn't really have an escape.

Osiris: Somewhat weak early damage output, with a delayed effect stun, meaning he has to stick to enemies to make it count. He's like a Kali without the ability to regain health on a kill, but his inherent damage mitigation give him extra tankiness in a fight. The buff to Hastened Katana along with hunters losing Fatalis give him increased potential if he chooses to build in that direction.

Nike: She has an escape and some decent damage. Her ult is also pretty nice for survival and the AOE slow. However, her passive, To Victory! is perhaps her biggest contribution to the team. Should be simple to meet her goals, and the added power and move speed are really nice to secure kills, escape, etc.

Sun Wukong: His damage output is poor, but he's got good wave-clear/poke, great mobility + CC, and a nice healing escape.

Tyr: Consider Blink Rune with Relic Dagger to help him get into the best locations. He's got good damage potential, and works best as a secondary tank so he doesn't always have to rely on Blink Rune to initiate. Difficult to play well, but can be a game changer in skilled hands.

Vamana: He actually can do pretty decent damage, and can be built for basic attacking. Also has a nice escape-dash and a CC-immune ult that is intimidating, though easy to avoid. Lacks CC, though.

Underpowered (B-Tier):

Like Assassins, I feel that Warriors are fairly well-balanced, especially in this teamfight mode. The shift of mobility with the change to Hastened Katana (taking away Fatalis from Hunters) really helps those warriors that needed to stay close to deal damage.

Abbreviations & Terms

Here is a quick list of some of the abbreviations/terms that I'll use in this guide:

ADC: Attack Damage Carry. Refers to a god (usually a Hunter) whose main form of attack is the basic one (left click!), and whose effectiveness usually peaks late-game, from having a full item build centered around max damage potential.

AOE: Area Of Effect. Refers to abilities that have the ability to hit an area, rather than a single target.

CC: Crowd Control. An effect from an item or ability that limits or prevents an opponent from moving or taking action. Examples include slow, cripple, freeze, and silence.

CDR: CoolDown Reduction. Usually from items, this reduces the time it takes for your abilities to become available again after previous use

HP5: Health (Hit Points) regenerated per every 5 seconds

MP5: Mana (Mana Points) regenerated per every 5 seconds

RNG: Random Number Generator. Term used for abilities (especially crit items) that have a percent chance to activate. Sometimes frowned upon as this brings a bit of luck into an otherwise skill-based game.

Tank: generally of the Warrior or Guardian class, built mainly with protection items

Bruiser: generally of the Warrior or Guardian class, built with both protection and damage items. Can also include an Assassin built with protections.

Squishy: Low HP gods (usually Assassins, Hunters, and Mages)

Magical (gods):Guardians and Mages

Physical (gods):Assassins, Hunters and Warriors

Penetration: A stat that helps bypass an enemy's inherent or item-based protection. I tend to lump penetration (e.g. Jotunn's Wrath) and protection reduction (e.g. The Executioner) in the same category for ease of consideration regarding general function. It's a lot more complex than that, so I suggest reading this article by Professor Proxy in your spare time.

Individual God Guides

Conclusion

Conclusion

So that's it! Thanks for reading! I hope it's been helpful and enjoyable. Please feel free to provide feedback...let me know if I've missed an essential or helpful tip, or if you would like me to add some specific content, or have suggestions of any other sort.

"Consider as an alternative of sorts to Rod of Tahuti. Another pure offense item, every 40 seconds you deal an extra burst of true damage to your target, which can help burst them down to nothing. Passive isn't very reliable if you're constantly hitting enemy gods, though." - a bit outdated?

I can only provide one example. I would also consider Warrior as you know from my Odin Arena guide, and in most cases it would probably be my standard choice. In this case I went for reinforced because it got a recent mini buff and I did call the build a tank rather than bruiser.

As for Thanatos, yeah that also works. Again, can only provide one example but I can add further comments. Just don't want the comments too be too complex. Good thoughts.

Like I said, SCS is a great item, BUT...it's better if you're facing more physical threat. It's an example build, so I don't account for all things. Also, your build is more forgiving. Earlier protections are just fine, but it means you won't be doing as much damage. It DOES mean you can survive more, even if you make mistakes.

My example build takes better advantage of Qin's passive at an earlier stage, which also pairs well with her passive, Predator. It also requires more awareness (only go in once the most threatening abilities are on CD) and helps if you have good tanks/CC on your team to help set you up.

Oh true that. But i thinking you should offer the best, all purpose build you can find. Which is why im wondering if my proposed build is slightly more functional than your build against a balanced enemy comp:
1 guardian
1 warrior
1 hunter
1 mage
1 abiltiy based bruiser assassin
^most balanced comp i can think of

I'm actually okay with Crusher after Tabi. The flat pen will also help her ability damage which will be more important early game, and the AS will also help with Qin's. I'm also okay with SCS after that, but only situationally because the protection it provides is physical, and magical threats might be bigger. But I maintain that, high health or no, Qin's provides a higher DPS jump than any other item. I'd still build it after crusher. 5th is way too late for my taste.

In this case I'd also just start Ninja just to more simply set the build up for Qin's. But I still like my original build just fine. It's one example. But I appreciate the feedback and I'll probably adjust and get crusher earlier.

Pestilence isnt just a counter pick item, its a fantastic mag protection item. Phenomenal amounts of mag def and good amt of health. I find myelf picking this up more often than bulwark simply because most hunters and mages, and a few assassins, will build some form of lifesteal. From my personal experience, mages and assassins are the most played, followed by hunters and warriors, with guardians played the least. So in every single game, you're very likely to see at least 2 gods building some form of lifesteal.

But for ***bha, I would concentrate on CDR along with Void Stone as a standard, with late counter items.

If I were to organize the items or present it in a specific way, how do you feel it would be most helpful to you? How I present in my individual god guides? Like I do in my Assault guide? Target only very specific topics like counter-building? There are a LOT of items, and a LOT of playstyles that I often change things up depending on my team's comp and the enemy comp.

I like how you have both general and specific guilds in your assault guide and I think those would help me the most: I would build Ares different than I would Kuzenbo or Kumbhakarna. Another thing I'm curious about is how different items stack up: e.g. Sovereignty vs. Jade Emperor's Crown. Things like that.

For the Arena guide, which is perhaps my least-viewed guide on a daily basis, I don't think I'm willing to put in a huge amount of time to doing a full items layout like I did with Assault, but I have ideas, and perhaps I can work up to something more comprehensive.

For now, let's see what my fingers can pump out in a few hours. Look for something later today.

I don't like the Arachne build. I've never been a fan of blessings in Arena (my preference). Get Warrior Tabi first, because it makes a difference between levels 3 to at least 8 (again, my preference). Change to Ninja Tabi late game.

I don't like the Arachne build. I've never been a fan of blessings in Arena (my preference). Get Warrior Tabi first, because it makes a difference between levels 3 to at least 8 (again, my preference). Change to Ninja Tabi late game.

Check the underlined section in the first paragraph of the Arena Items section for the answer to missing crits.

Reason I kept them out is because 1) that's a lot of additional items I'd have to list, and 2) the purpose of the Arena Items section (also as explained at the top of the section) is to point out items that might have some heightened importance in the mode over perhaps regular usage. I consider crits on specific gods to be fairly standard.

Of all blessings for Arena, I like 3 situationally. Hunter's Blessing for the strong basic attack boost for a very cheap price statistically, Attacker's Blessing for the cheap additional pen, and Specialist's Blessing for the cheap CDR and additional MS which is greatly helpful for many of the mage healers that don't have escapes.

Back to Arachne, I personally don't want to have to switch late-game if possible. Sure, you'll get a bit more out of Warrior early, but the purpose was to get Qin's online ASAP, and a stronger base of AS will more greatly support its use. Enemies don't need to be tanky for Qin's to still be an extremely strong item for her. She's got a pretty good attack progression for it and she'll shred both squishies and tanks.

(I know and I do XD...which is why I didn't change to all of your suggestions...but you DID have a good suggestion on the earlier Crusher, so I used it. I have never seen you use any other assassin except Loki on occasion...I REALLY think you need to play them to get more experience.)

Nice guide. I think your putting WAY TOO MUCH emphasis on minions. Yes they are important, but not at the expense of your teammates. 99.9999% of the time the team with the most God kills wins. Far too often I see teams getting 1-2 gods picked off in 2-3v1 because the rest of the team is too busy killing minions to help. The opposing team continues to push and the rest of your team is faced with running to the base and letting the minions walk in or dying because of overwhelming numbers and the minions still walk in. So a team CAN NOT put too much importance on the minions. Let the minions deal with the minions when they see a teammate being overwhelmed, prevent the kill or avenge it, then go back to killing minions! Failure to do this WILL result in a lost match!

You guys sound as if the other team is not killing minions also. You can't focus on minions while your teammates are fighting for their lives. I'm lvl 123 from arena only. I've seen time and time again, where the other teams warrior/guardian jumps in while your team is trying to clear waves, lock down one of my teammates and his team helps get the kill because my team was too busy killing minions to help. Then they go back and kill our minions. Now they're up on points. That's the winning strategy. You guys have people thinking minions are more important which is causing these teams to lose the match. It only takes one person to clear the wave and that's if your minions aren't present, otherwise the minions can handle the minions while the team prevents or gets the kill. I tell teams all the time, "Do the math, if you killing minions only and they're killing us and minions (no teams are just letting minions through), who wins?"

I guess it's just how the individual interprets my write-up? Because again, I'm not talking about killing minions when they're not in danger of hitting your portal. Seems like you're taking my discussion on minions to the extreme, where I say "kill minions, don't teamfight," which...well, I'm not. Not what I'm saying at all.

I do appreciate your feedback, don't get me wrong, but what I often see is that people get tunnel vision for teamfights and let multiple waves go.

Honestly if you ask me, Minions are the most important thing. And unless your team is really scattered you shouldn't see the issue of people dying in a 2-3v1. I've seen far too many teams crumble because they're letting minions through. Sure don't die if you can avoid it and dont just let your teammates die. but ignoring a wave in favor of saving an ally costs you more points than just letting the ally die.

Yeah, sounds like the issue you're seeing are individual teammates going YOLO on their own. They they spam HELP HELP HELP because you didn't protect them from the entire enemy team, even though they're the best wave clearer and you were busy preventing the minions from making it to your portal =P

That said, the guide is meant to give main tips. Minions matter more than many give them credit for. But I also expect people to use common sense. If minions aren't being pushed by the enemy team and there's a big team fight, then of course I'd expect the player to help their own teammates... That should be a given, wouldn't you say?

But if one teammate is gonna die if you don't help them, but you could prevent a wave from getting to your portal, you get the minions. You're talking -5 if your teammate dies, but basically a -12 spread if you don't kill the minions.

You should list the scum bag try hard tactic, that I came up with 1 year and a half ago. I do it time to time with premades. Your whole team camps fountain, using these specific gods. Kuku for tornado wave clear, loki for minion wave stalling, sylvanis for pulls into the fountain, Fenrir for ulting them into the fountain and Ares for Beads burning. Never leave fountain and still get kills. At the last min, loki blinks and stealths to the last enemy minion and finishes the game.

SmiteFire & Smite

Smite is an online battleground between mythical gods. Players choose from a selection of gods, join session-based arena combat and use custom powers and team tactics against other players and minions. Smite is inspired by Defense of the Ancients (DotA) but instead of being above the action, the third-person camera brings you right into the combat. And, instead of clicking a map, you use WASD to move, dodge, and fight your way through the detailed graphics of SMITE's battlegrounds.